


We Wait in the darkness for light (My name is Tanya)

by TheSoggySchuyler4



Series: Scream into the Sun [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23706373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSoggySchuyler4/pseuds/TheSoggySchuyler4
Summary: Natasha and Steve navigate foster care and a little girl named Tanya.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Series: Scream into the Sun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703185
Kudos: 33





	We Wait in the darkness for light (My name is Tanya)

Tanya swung higher, ignoring the stupid giggles of the other kids. They couldn’t climb as high as she could, and definitely not as quickly. Tanya was basically a super expert at climbing now, from escaping the mean kids so often.

She kept one of Moggy’s fuzzy felt arms clenched between her teeth and prayed that her beloved plushie wouldn’t fall. Another kid might have passed their toy off to a friend, but Tanya didn’t have any of those. Not after the last friend she’d made had torn one of Moggie’s arms off. She only had seven now, and a gaping hole for all of her beautiful stuffing to come out of. She might have liked to mend it, but Alice was the only kid at the orphanage who had any thread, or knowledge of how to fix it, and she was mean.

“Ben! Adam! Supper time!” Tanya heard groans from behind her, and the sound of running as two of the boys headed back inside. She mentally counted. Only three left. It was probably safe to come down now, especially since Adam had been the main instigator, but she liked it up here. Choosing a strong looking branch, Tanya settled onto it. Reaching into her back she found some of her homework and began to do it. One of the kids left called up to her, but she ignored it.

“TANYA!” Tanya’s head shot up. She knew that voice. She also knew that she was in loads of trouble now. Tossing the barely begun homework back into her bag, Tanya quickly scrambled down, jumping the last few branches and landing awkwardly on her foot. Ow. That had hurt way more than she’d expected. Sister Isabelle glared at her.

“It is well past the time you were expected back, Tanya. And your clothes are filthy. Look at you. How on earth you expect anyone to adopt you, I really have no idea.” She snapped. The other kids sniggered, stopping when Sister Isabelle turned her glare on them. Tanya hid her smirk. Sister Isabelle was scary.

“Sorry Sister,” She spoke earnestly, “I got lost.”

Sister Isabelle sighed, looking more exasperated than genuinely annoyed.

“You ridiculous child. You cannot get lost up trees.” Tanya nodded silently, allowing Sister Isabelle to lead her away.

“Now,” Sister announced, once they were a good distance from the other kids, “I was sent out to fetch you because we have some prospective foster parents arriving in a little while, and for some ludicrous reason, the Head Sister believes that all of our children should be present. And presentable, I might add.”

Tanya straightened her shoulders.

“I’ll behave. I’m sorry!” She burst out, fidgeting slightly. Sister Isabelle gave her a long look.

“You never seem to intend on chaos, Tanya. But that is always to result when it comes down to it, I’m afraid.”

* * *

Tanya hated it when foster parents visited. It just seemed cruel to parade all of the children in the playrooms for the prospective parents to see. Tanya knew enough about the process to realise that most of the parents had already discussed with the sisters which kids they wanted, and this was just a formality. She picked a quiet corner and continued with her homework, only occasionally glancing up when someone knew came in.

It was the taller woman’s hair which caught Tanya’s attention. She had never seen hair that vibrantly red, and the way it faded into blonde was fascinating. She couldn’t help lifting her head slightly to eye her more carefully. There were three people in the group, although none of them seemed like typical foster parents. The shorter woman was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket and looked incredibly anxious and uncomfortable, whilst the man looked as if he had jumped straight out of the past. Only the red-headed woman seemed to vaguely fit in, though she too wore dark colours that didn’t exactly match Tanya’s ideas about mothers.

The man and the red head were deep in conversation and didn’t appear to actually be looking at anyone. It was the smaller woman whose keen eyes spotted Tanya, and to her dismay, she actually strode over.

“Hi, I’m Daisy.” The woman announced. Tanya watched her cautiously. She really didn’t seem like the sort of person to be fostering, and why were there three of them anyway? Daisy seemed to notice Tanya’s eyes flickering towards her friends because she smiled slightly.

“That’s Natasha and Steve. They’re way to focused on trying to jump each other’s bones to notice that I’m over here and not with them.” She joked. Tanya snorted.

“Tanya.” She murmured softly. Daisy looked pleased.

“Let me guess,” She began, and Tanya tried not to react. She hated when people tried to guess things about her. “You’re ten or eleven. Probably been here for a while judging by your apathy to prospective foster parents. You’re doing your homework now because it’s the only real opportunity you’ll get when none of the other kids can get away with ruining it, right?”

Tanya blinked. That was… surprisingly accurate. Daisy hummed slightly, seeming to realise that she was on the right lines.

“Hey, do they still make you go to church like, ten times on Sunday?” She asked. Tanya shrugged.

“Four” She whispered, glancing curiously up at Daisy. That was a really unusual thing for someone to say.

“Oh, I used to go here. Don’t tell the sisters though. They’d probably try to shut me in the Punishment room for running away, even though I aged out years ago” She explained cheerfully, winking at Tanya. Tanya found herself smiling slightly.

“I’m nine.” Tanya spoke up suddenly, “And I’ve been here since I was four. My parents died.”

She was pleased to note that Daisy didn’t look the slightest bit pitying, or sad for her. She merely nodded and pursed her lips.

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Tanya. You seem like the kind of kid I can trust.” Daisy said calmly, “Nat, Steve and I are here to retrieve a machine that we think might be making people sick. You see anything like that?”

Tanya thought for a minute.

“Punishment room.” She answered finally. Daisy seemed to understand what she was saying and beamed.

“You’ve been really helpful Tanya, thank you! And, I tell you what, we might just have to come back and chat to you. You’ve been so wonderful to speak with.” Daisy gushed. Tanya allowed a small smile to creep onto her lips. Nobody ever liked talking to her, mostly because they couldn’t understand what she was saying. She had been in America since just before her fourth birthday, but her Russian accent had never faded.

Daisy left little Tanya to her homework and hurried back to Natasha and Steve. They seemed to have noticed that she was gone but were far more interested in each other. Daisy rolled her eyes.

“Hey, lovebirds. I know where the 084 is. Let’s go.”

Steve glanced at her in surprise.

“You do? How?”

Daisy gestured subtly over to Tanya.

“It will look suspicious if we all suddenly leave. Why don’t you go and talk to Tanya, Nat, and me and Steve can deal with the machine? We’ll meet back in ten.” She suggested easily. Natasha looked a little suspicious, but she nodded curtly and headed over to the little girl. Daisy could barely hide her smirk.

Look, Daisy knew kids, okay? She’d grown up surrounded by the most damaged kids you could get, and that obviously hadn’t changed since she’d left here. She’d noticed Tanya the second they entered the room, with her curious eyes that flickered over every time someone entered, only to decide that they would never be interested in her. Daisy knew the feeling. Natasha and Steve were so focused on the mission that they barely even glanced at the kids, but Daisy couldn’t resist the urge to help.

And okay, so maybe she kind of thought that Steve and Nat would be really great parents to one of these kids? And maybe, just maybe, she’d detected Tanya’s Russian accent, and had realised that Natasha could actually help this little girl way more than she might think.

Turning back to Steve she smiled.

“Right, let’s go find a creepy torture machine and get it out of here before these bast- uh, terrible people can hurt more kids with it.”

Steve frowned slightly.

“Phil warned me that this place has some memories for you. Are you sure you’re alright? I can manage on my own, or grab Nat, if you need to step outside.”

Daisy rolled her eyes again, practically dragging him from the room.

“I am totally one hundred percent okay, Steve. My time here barely even rates on my list of traumatic events. Trust me. I am fine.”

She wasn’t sure he believed her, but that was okay. As long as he stopped asking.

* * *

Natasha felt uncharacteristically uneasy as she headed over to the kid Daisy had pointed out. Tanya. Natasha kept her face neutral, even though every bone in her body screamed at her to just leave and find her friends. Steve should be doing this. He was probably great with kids. Why had Daisy chosen her?

“Hello.” She spoke, keeping her voice even. Tanya glanced up, her eyes flickering towards the door, and back towards Natasha.

“Your friends left.” She offered hopefully. Natasha shrugged, her mind racing. Was this why Daisy had sent her? Because the kid was Russian? There was no doubt that Daisy would have noticed that, however brief the conversation had been. Cautiously, Natasha switched to Russian.

“My name is Natasha. Do you speak Russian?”

The shift in Tanya was instantaneous. She sat up, her face shining in a new way that it had not done in probably years.

“да! Yes!” Tanya switched to Russian too, “Daisy didn’t tell me you spoke Russian! Are you from Russia?”

Natasha smiled slightly.

“I am from Russia. I was born there. Were you?”

Tanya considered the question for a moment.

“I think so, but I can’t remember. My parents only spoke Russian to me before they died, but when I came to America I had to learn.”

“English is hard,” Natasha mused, “Where I grew up, I was taught many languages, but English made little sense to me.”

Natasha quickly found that she liked talking to Tanya. The nine-year-old had clearly lacked any stimulating conversation since her parents died and was ecstatic to finally speak to someone in her own language. Natasha even sat down with Tanya and helped her with a question she’d been struggling with on her homework.

She was disappointed when Daisy and Steve reappeared, the latter’s bag significantly bulkier than it had been before. Steve gave her a look that meant they needed to make a move, quickly.

“Your friends are back.” Tanya noted, pausing in the middle of a convoluted story surrounding a frog and a panda (Natasha had payed close attention and still wasn’t sure if she’d heard correctly). She seemed as disheartened as Natasha felt, and in that moment, she knew what to do.

“Tanya, I am going to speak to the sisters and arrange to meet with you whenever I can. I have enjoyed speaking in my mother tongue, and you are excellent company.” She announced, smiling at how Tanya perked up.

“Really? I’d love that!”

The little girl surprised both of them by reaching forwards and pulling Natasha into a hug. Natasha was startled to find that she didn’t really mind, and she even allowed herself to pull Tanya closer.

“You are safe with me, little one.” She whispered into Tanya’s hair. Natasha noticed Daisy and Steve watching in shock and narrowed her eyes at them. They could tease her all they liked later, but for now, she would enjoy the oddly pleasant sensation of holding a child in her arms.


End file.
